MOVE Series# 3, Slowing down to Speed Up

MOVE Series# 3, Slowing down to Speed Up
By: Bobby Sullivan, Sep. 20-20

“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.”
― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

Mark 1:35-45:  35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary (LONELY) place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.  40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Let’s go to Mark 1:35-37

Very early in the morning Jesus got up

We read that Jesus is hiding from his disciples.

Let’s have a confession booth right now like the Catholic Church: How many parents have a hiding place to escape your children during this pandemic?

Every now and then we need to get away from Peter just like Jesus did.

Matt. 6:6 says, ‘when you pray, go into your room – to the secret place, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you’.

I know this sounds a little bit ironic that we talk about spending time with Jesus all of the time – and here we read that Jesus needed to spend time alone praying.

This is really important – because if we never spend time disconnected from the external, we will always be driven by agendas that come from the outside causing us to be distracted.     “Distraction” means losing traction/momentum

Jesus instructs us to live from within. What he is teaching here is the importance of making time to align ourselves with His purpose. Popularity and purpose don’t always work well together. Just because people are looking for you doesn’t mean you always have to make yourself available. Just because the doorbell is ringing doesn’t mean you have you go to the door

Jesus refused to conform to popular opinion or external agendas and for this reason, we read, that he had to sneak away from his disciples and go to a solitary place to recharge and spend time with His Father.

This is so Jesus can get his orders from the inside and be correctly directed as to what he needed to do today.  If we do not have this place in our lives where we are willing to be alone for a little while, we will spend our entire lives scrolling through screenshots that merely reflect somebody’s else’s idea of purpose.  Jesus tells us (and reminds us) that it is important to be alone sometimes. Never feel guilty or pressured to say no. Everyone including Jesus has to take a breather.

I’m finding during this pandemic that it is more difficult than ever before to be alone. I mean really alone (this does not mean physically distant).  To be really alone and to seek God and ask the important questions – what do You (God) want me to do? When do you want me to do it and how do you want me to do it? The tendency is to listen to news rather than the good news

I have never had to deal with vision with limits. Ideas with constraints. Good ideas must now be God ideas.

Even when we are alone we are flooded with voices. Jesus had a quiet place and we need to have a quiet place . Even when I am alone physically, emotionally my mind is still like times square during rush hour.

One of the biggest concerns of this era is that we don’t become numb to the things that really matter. Because we are so bombarded and constantly connected to the things that are peripheral that vie for our attention.

Jesus had the opportunity to be alone and it wasn’t easy for him – and the Bible says that Peter came looking for him.

Who and what is looking for you? It is a juggling act because if you decide to be incubated and isolated you become out of touch. Remember, you get a burden for the lost when you walk with the lost.

My point is retreat is not to run but to refresh yourself

So Peter finds Jesus. The Greek term used in the Bible is, “Peter went to track Jesus down” while Jesus needed to take a break from all of the craziness. This little spot where we can get alone and just listen to what the Father says – and get away from all of the distractions – and get away from all of the opinions – and get away from the 24 hour cycle of depression, anxiety, and craziness – that is presented to us in the form of entertainment – but all it does is cultivate fear – so we get hooked on stuff that is designed to keep us in a state of needing the very thing that is killing us.

Jesus got away – now here comes Peter – like he was a stalker – sort of like how the devil tries to track you down – almost like how anxiety will track you down – almost like how something that happened two years ago still tracks you down – keeping you from enjoying this present moment – and Peter says this to Jesus – Hey Rabbi, everyone is looking for you – as if Jesus was going to conform to the expectation of others – and he came from God for a purpose – that was his very nature.

Jesus was at the height of his popularity – yet he chooses to be alone.

We should never confuse fame with fruitfulness or confuse being noticed with being known. The trick of the enemy is to keep you so busy that as a minister you confuse busy with anointing!

When actually busy keeps you out of the secret place and you convince yourself that…even though scripture says, “pray without ceasing’  You are doing God a favor by spiritually multitasking.

And here is what you can do when your intention and purpose are set from within – Here is what I mean with this – seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness –

We have to operate from a place of peace not from pressure – we let the world be as crazy as it wants to be. We possess something that transcends all understanding – to guard our hearts and our minds by a life in Christ Jesus not around Christ Jesus.

We set up boundaries and this is the scope that we are going to give our attention to. We focus our eyes on what is eternal not what is temporal.

And Jesus responds to Peter by saying I’m glad they are looking for me but right now I need to be alone. Jesus then responds with – “let’s go to the other villages because this is what I came for.” When you know what goes on the other side of that (this is what I came for) You know what your purpose is for being here.

I want to speak to someone that has been in a lonely place.

I want you to know that Jesus chose to go into a lonely place – Jesus chose to separate himself from all of the stress – to separate himself from all of the drama – to separate himself from all of the demands that were surrounding him. He had to save the world – and maybe the reason that in this season we feel so stressed out is because we don’t know why God put us here – because we have been so busy chasing popularity, status, and achievement – and Jesus chose to retreat to a lonely place in order to achieve alignment with his assignment.

Sometimes you need to come apart before you come apart. Sometimes you need to retreat so you can advance. Sometimes you need to take 2 steps back, re-evaluate then march forward.

Jesus told Peter, let’s go to some other towns because I didn’t come here to do spectacular things or to pursue fame and recognition – let me go do what I can to do.

You need to be reminded that God is with you in the lonely places – that God is with you in the dark places – where he can steer our attention towards the direction of our destiny – not the distraction of this moment. You need to be reminded that the silence of God is not the absence of God. He is not trying to play hide and seek. The silence of God forces you to fight through the noise of distractions so you can tune in uninterrupted.

It’s in the secret place that you find directions for the public place

There is an Open reward for those that learn to live in, out and from the Secret place of his presence.

I have listed several keys below here on how you can successfully cultivate  intimacy with God.

1. Hunger

The first step toward the “secret place of the Most High” (Psalm 91:1) begins with a desperate, hungry heart. This longing draws us to seek true, deep intimacy with Christ. One can hear the cry of David’s longing heart in

Psalm 42:7: “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.”

By nature we are seldom satisfied. We have an unquenchable desire for more. That desire can flow over into our spirit.

God is fanning the flame of discontentment and dissatisfaction in the hearts of his people, resulting in a deep hunger for not merely the power of God but the presence of God.

In our hunger for him we must remain unwavering in our focus and set Our Affections Above (Col 3:1)

If we are not receiving His care and protection in the Secret place, we have either chosen the wrong dwelling place or we have set our affection on something or someone other than Christ Jesus.

2. Solitude

Solitude is a place of refreshment; reinvigoration; meeting with God and strengthening. Cultivating solitude means cultivating the attitude of being alone on a regular basis. The quiet place is where we hear from God. It is the place where we are reassured of the direction He wants us to take.

The place of Solitude Jesus refers to is the secret place, a “room” we enter in prayer. This room speaks of the inner most part of our heart, a place of hiddenness and transparency. We enter the secret place alone, without any props or agendas. It is a time for us to quiet our minds and engage our hearts in order to hear His voice. We need to schedule time and establish a regular devotional prayer time. Then we need to treasure this time and place the highest value on it.

Every place has potential to be converted into a secret place when you accept the invitation of God to be with Him in that moment.

Psalm 31:20
You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.

If the confession booth is still open, this message is for me as well. Sermon prep, reading books does not replace the secret place.

3. Place Of Separation

Once we enter this place of solitude alone in prayer, Jesus tells us to “shut the door”.  Jesus closed the door to the public, his disciples and even his ministry when he entered the place of solitude and separation.

We need to guard our time in the secret place. It needs to become the most cherished place to us. Jesus wants nothing less than our full attention. He wants to captivate us and desires that we also will be able to fully gaze on Him without distractions or interruptions of this world. When you begin to cultivate a lifestyle of communion in the secret place, you will encounter obstacles that want to rob you of that place and pull you away.

Amazing quote here by Oswald Chambers. ” Jesus did not say, “Dream about your Father who is in the secret place,” but He said, “. . . pray to your Father who is in the secret place. . . .”

Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray. We cannot seem to get our minds into good working order, and the first thing we have to fight is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is overcoming this problem of our idle and wandering thinking. We have to learn to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful, deliberate prayer.”

We must learn how to cast our cares on Him, setting aside time  to clear our minds of clutter. God is always speaking to us, but when our minds are filled with worries and concerns we cannot hear Him!

4. Rest

As we begin to know Him by experience and not just about Him, we are able to rest in the truth of who He is. The revelation of His affections and delight for us begins to flood our spirit, and we realize that the secret place is not a place to strive for His acceptance or love. It is a place to rest in His embrace, soaking in his Glory and goodness. Our focus then is to rest in the Lord so we will receive the rest of the Lord.

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).

In times of receiving, we are allowing His embrace to transform us into His image. In seasons of waiting, we are cooperating with the Holy Spirit, actively working together to grow in the revelation of His love for us.

5. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

“The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” (2 Corinthians 13:14, msg).

Soaking in the secret place by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is key to going deeper. We must speak to him in communion and allow our friendship with him to grow. He is the key to knowing CHRIST in a deeper way.

6. Worship

Worship is simply the act of expressing to the Lord the gift of our Love. It’s our time not only to initiate, but also to maintain an open communion with Him.

The key to true worship is that it must be done “in the spirit” and not “in the flesh.” John 4:24 tells us that “God is a Spirit; and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”  It is not what we do, rather an expression of who he is in us.

Worship is not just something that is practiced externally, but something that is done internally with the heart and adoration.

Richard Foster writes, “Today the heart of God is an open wound of Love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to Him. He grieves that we have forgotten Him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.”

7. Prayer and Word

Communion in prayer and the study of God’s Word cannot be optional in pursuing the secret place. Our thoughts should be we need to be consistent in prayer  because we cannot survive without prayer. We also must have a love for his word as Job declared, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

Only when prayer and the word of God is important to your maintaining a secret place will you make the time to do it daily.

In closing there are so many benefits to the Secret place and this may be one of the greatest. In entering the Secret Place of his Presence it becomes a shelter.

(Psalm 91:1). Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

“Lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory resides.” – Psalm 26:8